Of the hundreds of commercial maple syrup operations in Quebec, none is as famous nationally and internationally as one that Beaconsfield native Pierre Faucher opened in Rigaud in 1978: the Sucrerie de la Montagne.

The New York Times has featured it twice, first in 1984 and again in 2009. CBS Sunday Morning profiled it last March, and Al-Jazeera has scheduled a visit for March 22.

Quebec produces three-quarters of the world’s maple syrup, with production taking place over four to eight weeks straddling March and April, a time when sap runs inside of sugar maples and is extracted and then boiled into maple syrup. And as Quebecers know very well, the production season is accompanied by a parallel tourism season that sees people head out in the thawing countryside for festive cabane-à-sucre meals with live music and dancing.

At Sucrerie de la Montagne, the 2014 harvest formally begins today, with the first step in the production process — the tapping of the trees. Workers will hammer little faucet taps into the trunks of 3,500 sugar-maple trees and hang buckets from those taps to collect the sap.

This is the old-fashioned way of collecting sap — with pails instead of suction hoses, and the evaporation process fuelled by wood instead of gas. Also suggestive of the folkloric traditions of “sugaring off” are the log cabins Faucher built or moved onto his 120-acre Rigaud property to provide rustic accommodation for overnight visitors. His general store, which sells maple products, is situated inside a 200-year-old log cabin that he moved over from nearby Coteau-du-Lac.Faucher himself is a big part of the overall show at Sucrerie de la Montagne. With his white beard, broad physique and engaging personality, he is easily imagined by visitors to be Santa Claus’s southerly little brother. He is, in other words, a perfect ambassador for his industry. In fact, the Canadian Tourism Commission in 2011 named Sucrerie de la Montagne as one of five “signature Canadian experiences” in Quebec for marketing purposes — along with the Quebec City winter carnival, the Quebec City ice hotel, the Auberge de montagne des Chics-Chocs in the Gaspé region, and Montreal’s Espace pour la vie (Biodôme, Insectarium, Planetarium and Botanical Garden). This special recognition means foreign travel writers who come to Quebec as subsidized guests of the CTC are directed specifically to these destinations, as part of pre-planned tours. Since 2011, new destinations have been added to the list.

Business was slow for Faucher when he opened up in 1978, after giving up a management career with an American multinational in Montreal and travelling the world for several years.

“When I returned, some friends and family regarded me a failure,” he says. His father, though, a West Island home builder, encouraged him to develop a mid-life passion and see it through as an entrepreneurial project. Faucher got to thinking how, as a boy, he would stare for days at pictures of log cabins and wood stoves and wood tables, and this triggered a yearning to create a business based on an idealistic and idyllic vision of Quebec’s pre-industrial past.

The first person in media to profile him, in 1979, was Don McGowan of CFCF-TV, the Montreal CTV affiliate. With a recession raging in 1982, Faucher sought marketing help from Tourism Quebec, but was turned down.

The following year, he went to the federal agriculture department, where a manager, who lived in nearby Hudson, arranged for 60 food writers to visit him in 1984, including one from the New York Times whose article helped put Faucher’s business on the international tourism map.

Since then, he has aimed at a higher price point and standard of quality than other sugar-bush businesses. When I visited in late February, I did find his dinner meal a cut above what I have had at other sugar shacks over the years. The largest of his three dining rooms, which by itself can accommodate 350 people, has a special intimacy to it, the glitter of white Christmas lights suspended from the low-hanging rafters making the room feel like some sort of bright movie set.

Like a lot of other sugar-bush operations in Quebec, Sucrerie de la Montagne has taken the ham out of its French-Canadian pea soup and the pork out of its beans. It’s not just to accommodate Muslims, says Faucher. It’s also to accommodate vegetarian diets and help simplify the work flow in the kitchen — one vat of soup or beans instead of two. He still serves salt-pork bacon bits as well as ham and pork sausages, but these are foods that people can take a pass on.

Having grown up in Beaconsfield, Faucher, 68, speaks English well and so does his son, Stéfan, and many of his staff of 125 who work in the peak spring season. Sucrerie de la Montagne is open 12 months a year, a sign the business is thriving. Faucher says his accountant recently told him he could sell it for $6 million — but it’s not for sale.

Those who choose to visit Sucrerie de la Montagne this season should make a point of saying hello to Faucher if they see him. He’s a charismatic guy on a personal level — and a certified Quebec icon in all other respects.

IF YOU GO

Sucrerie de la Montagne is situated at 300 chemin Saint-Georges in Rigaud. To get there from Montreal, take Highway 40 west to Exit 17. Turn left and go south on Route 201 for two kilometres. Then turn right on Saint-Georges and continue for another six kilometres. Prices range from $29 to $38 per person, depending on the day and time of day, or $13 to $19 for children. There are also school and group rates. For more information, visit sucreriedelamontagne.com or call 450-451-0831.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.